Double the Fun
by c1araoswa1d
Summary: Tumblr Whouffle Prompt: The Doctor takes in a new companion (more specifically a Clara echo) while the original is still with him. Oh and they both looooove him.


The Doctor was surprised she'd taken it so well. He was, at that moment, a little bit disturbed at how well she was taking it. Another version of herself, standing just next to her, sharing a laugh as they divulged secrets to one another, occasionally tossing a glance in his direction as he maneuvered the Tardis through the time vortex trying to find the best place to take them.

_ "Clara Oswald… meet Clara Oswald."_

It wasn't his fault he thought he'd run across her with a bad case of memory swap. Or that he'd managed to have an entire adventure on an alien planet with her while she'd actually been kidnapped and tied to a bed in a dank sewer. And it wasn't his fault that he invited her along, incapable of saying no to the pout that found him at the end of the day once everything had been sorted and she told him she wanted to see the stars.

_ "I've actually met myself, thanks – how did you not know it wasn't me again?"_

Now they were giggling, his Clara absently brushing a hand along the other's arm, as if they were the oldest and dearest of friends and, he supposed, in some way they were. They were each other. Or, rather, the Echo Clara was a piece of Clara. A piece she remembered vaguely, like she did with all of the others – usually in dreams, the memories of her deaths gone in the blink of an eye as he shook her awake to ask her what was wrong.

"Always," Clara rolled her eyes to say, and they both looked at him again.

"It's honestly quite rude to gossip about someone standing in the same room," the Doctor informed them, wrinkling his nose at them as they smirked. "Have you made up your mind – _minds_ – about where we should go?"

They inched closer and he shifted on the spot, frustrated by how much it affected him to see them both absolutely flirtatious with one another. Echo Clara finally nodded towards him and asked, "Could we see a planet run by woman?"

_You mean like the Tardis_, he thought to himself with a gruff exhale and when they both turned to give him the stare, the one with the slightly raised eyebrow and the lips parted, ready to unleash a cutting blow, he spat, "Would I be allowed to come along?"

Clara's head tilted and she smiled, asking, "Why wouldn't you be?"

"You two," he gestured, before searching his memory and finding a planet, calculating the right time before punching it into the machine and involuntarily grinning when it lurched to the side. Then he looked back at them as they waited, "I've never seen two girls so… so… _touchy wouchy_."

"Touchy wouchy?" Echo Clara repeated, coming around the console to stand at his left, "We've been getting acquainted – you should try it sometime." She gave his arm a tap with the back of her hand and he jerked in response, watching the smirk mocking him.

Coming around to his right, Clara tapped the other arm, gaining his attention and she watched him look back and forth between them, as though he'd suddenly been caught between a Dalek and a Cyberman and he wasn't quite sure which was more dangerous and she allowed, "Doctor, don't tell me you've never had two female companions at the same time before. We're being friendly – _we're getting along_; thought you'd like that."

"I do," he hissed at her, "I'm just not comfortable with the level of _comfort_ you have with one another."

Nodding at him, Clara pointed out, "I've done nothing with her you haven't done with me… is this because she's a woman? Or is this because she's one of my echoes."

"Think he's uncomfortable with the echoes part," Echo Clara agreed.

"I'm not…" the Doctor fumbled, "I'm fine with… I've been with – not in that sense, but – I've made acquaintances with your echoes before!"

Sly grin on her face, Clara nodded, "I think I remember."

"Shut up," he told her with a point of his finger. He turned to the echo Clara and bumped her with his hip, "You should just… keep a distance."

"We've established there isn't a paradox issue, Doctor," Clara reminded him. "You said it would be good if we made friends – said it would be fine if we travelled together for a spot."

Echo Clara sighed and asked, "Have you changed your mind? Are you taking me back home?"

"No," he told her immediately.

She bent over the console at his left and Clara bent slightly at his right and he straightened quick enough to slam into the metal surface in front of him with a whimper to the circling bands above his head. Clara smiled at her echo, who sighed and glanced up at the Doctor to say, "So if it's not really the echo, it must be the part about the women – two women in the Tardis, at once, is just a bit much more than the good Doctor can handle."

"I can handle two women at once," he growled, his confidence shrinking away when they both pushed off the console and gave him a smile. "Not at this moment. Maybe, not, no. Both of you, planet is cold – get coats out of the wardrobe!"

Clara was the first to back away and he watched her nod to her echo before moving around the console to meet the other woman there, hand outstretched for her. They clasped hands and her double whispered something in her ear just before they began to make their way into the Tardis and Clara laughed aloud, turning to look at him before allowing, "Maybe later."

As they moved forward, the Doctor felt his legs shake slightly and he wondered why he'd ever thought having two of them aboard would be a good idea. Rubbing his brow and slapping the lever at his right, he glanced up at the corridor with a shake of his head. One was enough to make him weak at the knees – two would definitely do him in.


End file.
